Pertussis in Taiwan, 2001–2014

DOI: 10.6525/TEB.20160119.32(2).001

Ni-Chun Yeh^＊, Chiu-Mei Chen, Hung-Wei Kuo, Ding-Ping Liu

2016 Vol.32 NO.2

Correspondence Author： Ni-Chun Yeh^＊

Abstract：

Pertussis is a highly infectious respiratory disease. In Taiwan, the majority of confirmed pertussis cases from 2001 to 2014 are infants under the age of 12 months. The annual rate of pertussis among infants increased since 2001, with a rate in 2014 14 times of that in 2001. All the three pertussis deaths over the past years were infants aged below two months. Since August 2014, the cumulative number of pertussis has been higher than the number during the same corresponding time period in 2012 and 2013. Among pertussis cases in 2014, the average days from symptom onset to diagnosis can be up to 20. Among the 17 pertussis clusters identified in 2014, 94% were household clusters. The main infection sources for cases under two years of age are adults or children in the same household. Physicians are urged to heighten vigilance for pertussis, especially for adolescents and adults, whose symptoms may not be classic, to prevent transmission to infants in their family.